By Virginia Groark
Tribune staff reporter

November 10, 2005

Chicago Transit Authority riders who pay with cash will have to dig another quarter out of their pocket next year to ride a bus or train now that the agency's board agreed Wednesday to increase cash fares to $2.

While the cash fare hike was expected, the board shocked advocates for the disabled by announcing it would move forward with its plan to double paratransit fares to $3.50, prompting some people to boo the board. The board's action let stand a decision it had made in June, rejecting CTA President Frank Kruesi's recommendation to reconsider.

"I'm just appalled," said Tim Sullivan, an RTA travel trainer for Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago, an advocacy group for people with disabilities. "They low-balled us."

Indeed, the board's decision goes against Kruesi's recommendation to keep paratransit fares $1.75 because Pace is taking over the service July 1. But CTA Chairwoman Carole Brown said it made more sense to double paratransit fares, noting the specialized rides cost the CTA $25 per ride. CTA officials estimate the fare increase will generate about $1.7 million.

The board also agreed to eliminate cash transfers and double the downtown rush hour shuttle cash fare to $2 from $1 as part of its $1.04 billion 2006 operating budget.

The fare hike, which will go into effect Jan. 1 and is expected to generate $17 million next year, will be the second one for cash customers in two years. The CTA raised its base fare to $1.75 from $1.50 in 2004.

The proposal spares people who use unlimited ride passes or the Chicago Card or Chicago Card Plus. CTA officials hope that will encourage more people to use the cashless payment methods, which speed up boarding and cost the CTA less money to process.

The board agreed to waive the $5 fee for a Chicago Card from Dec. 1 to April 1. But people will have to load $20, instead of $10, on their Chicago Card or Chicago Card Plus to receive a 10 percent bonus, under the budget plan.

Citizen advocacy groups have argued that the fare hike will affect low-income riders the most because they are least likely to purchase a pass or a Chicago Card. In addition, the Neighborhood Capital Budget Group, a watchdog group, said that many people don't know how to obtain the cards, which are not easily available in some communities.

But Brown said the CTA has entered a $4 million contract to make the cards more available. And Kruesi said low-income riders often buy the seven-day unlimited pass, whose $20 price will not increase, because of its value.

The budget also includes $5.2 million to make service improvements on the West Side and in the western suburbs. Possible changes include rerouting the Cermak branch of the Blue Line along the Paulina Connector, just west of Ashland Avenue, to the Green Line and into the Loop. While it could shorten the train trip to the Clark/Lake stop by 8 to 10 minutes, that route would bypass the University of Illinois at Chicago and the Illinois Medical District.

Some Cermak branch riders have expressed fear such a plan would reduce service on their line, though the CTA's preliminary proposal calls for adding rush hour trains on the existing route.

Kruesi said CTA officials would hold community meetings before adopting changes.

In other news, a Cook County jury decided Wednesday that the CTA must pay DePaul University $3.85 million for four buildings, including the Hayes-Healy gymnasium, a Gothic building that preservationist groups have put on their endangered lists. The CTA needs the land to rehabilitate the Fullerton elevated train stop.

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Budget highlights

The Chicago Transit Authority board approved a 2006 budget with the following changes:

Cash fares raised from $1.75 to $2

Fares on downtown shuttle buses doubled to $2

Cash transfers eliminated

Paratransit fares doubled to $3.50 a ride

Changes do not affect people who use unlimited-ride passes or Chicago Card or Chicago Card Plus. The board agreed to waive the $5 application fee for Chicago Cards from Dec. 1 to April 1.